MAKING MEANING

About the Author

American History
Concept Vocabulary
You will encounter the following words as you read “American History.”
Before reading, note how familiar you are with each word. Then, rank the
words in order from most familiar (1) to least familiar (6).
WORD YOUR RANKING
Judith Ortiz Cofer
anticipated
(1952–2016) spent her
childhood in two different infatuated
cultures. Born in Puerto Rico,
she moved with her parents enthralled
to Paterson, New Jersey,
devoted
when she was very young.
She grew up mostly in elation
Paterson, but she also spent
impulse
time in Puerto Rico with her
abuela (grandmother). It was
After completing the first read, return to the concept vocabulary and review
from her grandmother that
your rankings. Make changes to your original rankings as needed.
Ortiz Cofer learned the art of
storytelling. In her own work,
Ortiz Cofer teaches readers
about the richness and First Read FICTION
difficulty of coming of age in Apply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an
two cultures at once.
opportunity to complete the close-read notes after your first read.

Notice whom the story Annotate by marking

is about, what happens, vocabulary and key passages
where and when it happens, you want to revisit.
Tool Kit and why those involved react
First-Read Guide and as they do.
Model Annotation

Connect ideas within Respond by completing Copyright © SAVVAS Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.
the selection to what you the Comprehension Check and
already know and what you by writing a brief summary of
have already read. the selection.

 STANDARDS
Reading Literature
By the end of grade 9, read and
comprehend literature, including
stories, dramas, and poems, in the
grades 9–10 text complexity band
proficiently, with scaffolding as
needed at the high end of the range.

36  UNIT 1 • AMERICAN VOICES

 ANCHOR TEXT  |  SHORT STORY

American History
Judith Ortiz Cofer

BACKGROUND
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed
in Dallas, Texas, and the United States was plunged into mourning. Most
people who lived through that time can still remember where they were
when they heard the news. Kennedy’s assassination and the nation’s grief
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defined a generation. Key events in this story take place on that fateful day.

I once read in a “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” column that Paterson,

New Jersey, is the place where the Straight and Narrow (streets)
intersect. The Puerto Rican tenement known as El Building was one
NOTES

block up from Straight. It was, in fact, the corner of Straight and

Market; not “at” the corner, but the corner. At almost any hour of the
day, El Building was like a monstrous jukebox, blasting out salsas1
from open windows as the residents, mostly new immigrants just
up from the island, tried to drown out whatever they were currently
enduring with loud music. But the day President Kennedy was shot
there was a profound silence in El Building; even the abusive tongues
of viragoes,2 the cursing of the unemployed, and the screeching of

1. salsas  (SAHL suhz) songs written in a particular Latin American musical style.
2. viragoes  (vih RAH gohz) fierce, irritable women with loud voices.

American History  37

NOTES
CLOSE READ
ANNOTATE: In paragraph 5,
mark words and phrases
related to temperature.
QUESTION: Why is the
narrator so focused on
feelings of hot and cold?
CONCLUDE: How do
these details help readers
understand Elena’s feelings
of isolation?
anticipated (an TIHS uh payt
ihd) v. eagerly expected
38  UNIT 1 • AMERICAN VOICES
small children had been somehow muted. President Kennedy was
a saint to these people. In fact, soon his photograph would be hung
alongside the Sacred Heart and over the spiritist altars that many
women kept in their apartments. He would become part of the
hierarchy of martyrs they prayed to for favors that only one who had
died for a cause would understand.
2 On the day that President Kennedy was shot, my ninth grade class
had been out in the fenced playground of Public School Number 13.
We had been given “free” exercise time and had been ordered by our
P.E. teacher, Mr. DePalma, to “keep moving.” That meant that the
girls should jump rope and the boys toss basketballs through a hoop
at the far end of the yard. He in the meantime would “keep an eye”
on us from just inside the building.
3 It was a cold gray day in Paterson. The kind that warns of early
snow. I was miserable, since I had forgotten my gloves, and my
knuckles were turning red and raw from the jump rope. I was also
taking a lot of abuse from the black girls for not turning the rope hard
and fast enough for them.
4 “Hey, Skinny Bones, pump it, girl. Ain’t you got no energy today?”
Gail, the biggest of the black girls who had the other end of the
rope, yelled, “Didn’t you eat your rice and beans and pork chops for
breakfast today?”
5 The other girls picked up the “pork chops” and made it into a
refrain: “pork chop, pork chop, did you eat your pork chop?” They
entered the double ropes in pairs and exited without tripping or
missing a beat. I felt a burning on my cheeks and then my glasses
fogged up so that I could not manage to coordinate the jump rope
with Gail. The chill was doing to me what it always did; entering my
bones, making me cry, humiliating me. I hated the city, especially
in winter. I hated Public School Number 13. I hated my skinny flat-
chested body, and I envied the black girls who could jump rope so
fast that their legs became a blur. They always seemed to be warm
while I froze.
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6 There was only one source of beauty and light for me that school
year. The only thing I had anticipated at the start of the semester.
That was seeing Eugene. In August, Eugene and his family had
moved into the only house on the block that had a yard and trees. I
could see his place from my window in El Building. In fact, if I sat on
the fire escape I was literally suspended above Eugene’s backyard.
It was my favorite spot to read my library books in the summer.
Until that August the house had been occupied by an old Jewish
couple. Over the years I had become part of their family, without
their knowing it, of course. I had a view of their kitchen and their
backyard, and though I could not hear what they said, I knew when
they were arguing, when one of them was sick, and many other
things. I knew all this by watching them at mealtimes. I could see
their kitchen table, the sink, and the stove. During good times, he
 sat at the table and read his newspapers while she fixed the meals.
If they argued, he would leave and the old woman would sit and NOTES

stare at nothing for a long time. When one of them was sick, the other
would come and get things from the kitchen and carry them out on
a tray. The old man had died in June. The last week of school I had
not seen him at the table at all. Then one day I saw that there was
a crowd in the kitchen. The old woman had finally emerged from
the house on the arm of a stocky, middle-aged woman, whom I had
seen there a few times before, maybe her daughter. Then a man had
carried out suitcases. The house had stood empty for weeks. I had
had to resist the temptation to climb down into the yard and water
the flowers the old lady had taken such good care of.
7 By the time Eugene’s family moved in, the yard was a tangled
mass of weeds. The father had spent several days mowing, and
when he finished, from where I sat, I didn’t
see the red, yellow, and purple clusters that
meant flowers to me. I didn’t see this family
sit down at the kitchen table together. It was
I was ready for rejection,
just the mother, a red-headed tall woman who snobbery, the worst.
wore a white uniform—a nurse’s, I guessed
it was; the father was gone before I got up in
the morning and was never there at dinner
time. I only saw him on weekends when they
sometimes sat on lawn chairs under the oak tree, each hidden behind
a section of the newspaper; and there was Eugene. He was tall and
blond, and he wore glasses. I liked him right away because he sat at
the kitchen table and read books for hours. That summer, before we
had even spoken one word to each other, I kept him company on my
fire escape.
8 Once school started I looked for him in all my classes, but P.S.
13 was a huge, overpopulated place and it took me days and many
discreet questions to discover that Eugene was in honors classes for
all his subjects; classes that were not open to me because English was
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not my first language, though I was a straight A student. After much

maneuvering, I managed “to run into him” in the hallway where his
locker was—on the other side of the building from mine—and in study
hall at the library where he first seemed to notice me, but did not speak;
and finally, on the way home after school one day when I decided to
approach him directly, though my stomach was doing somersaults.
9 I was ready for rejection, snobbery, the worst. But when I came
up to him, practically panting in my nervousness, and blurted out:
“You’re Eugene. Right?” he smiled, pushed his glasses up on his
nose, and nodded. I saw then that he was blushing deeply. Eugene
liked me, but he was shy. I did most of the talking that day. He
nodded and smiled a lot. In the weeks that followed, we walked
home together. He would linger at the corner of El Building for a
few minutes then walk down to his two-story house. It was not until

American History  39

NOTES
10
11
infatuated (ihn FACH oo ayt
ihd) adj.briefly but intensely
in love
12
enthralled (ehn THRAWLD) v.
captivated
devoted (dih VOHT ihd) adj.
loving, loyal, and concerned
with another’s well-being
40  UNIT 1 • AMERICAN VOICES
Eugene moved into that house that I noticed that El Building blocked
most of the sun, and that the only spot that got a little sunlight during
the day was the tiny square of earth the old woman had planted with
flowers.
I did not tell Eugene that I could see inside his kitchen from
my bedroom. I felt dishonest, but I liked my secret sharing of his
evenings, especially now that I knew what he was reading since we
chose our books together at the school library.
One day my mother came into my room as I was sitting on the
window-sill staring out. In her abrupt way she said: “Elena, you are
acting ‘moony.’” Enamorada3 was what she really said, that is—like
a girl stupidly infatuated. Since I had turned fourteen my mother
had been more vigilant than ever. She acted as if I was going to go
crazy or explode or something if she didn’t watch me and nag me all
the time about being a señorita4 now. She kept talking about virtue,
morality, and other subjects that did not interest me in the least. My
mother was unhappy in Paterson, but my father had a good job at
the bluejeans factory in Passaic and soon, he kept assuring us, we
would be moving to our own house there. Every Sunday we drove
out to the suburbs of Paterson, Clifton, and Passaic, out to where
people mowed grass on Sundays in the summer, and where children
made snowmen in the winter from pure white snow, not like the
gray slush of Paterson which seemed to fall from the sky in that hue.
I had learned to listen to my parents’ dreams, which were spoken in
Spanish, as fairy tales, like the stories about life in the island paradise
of Puerto Rico before I was born. I had been to the island once as
a little girl, to grandmother’s funeral, and all I remembered was
wailing women in black, my mother becoming hysterical and being
given a pill that made her sleep two days, and me feeling lost in a
crowd of strangers all claiming to be my aunts, uncles, and cousins.
I had actually been glad to return to the city. We had not been back
there since then, though my parents talked constantly about buying
a house on the beach someday, retiring on the island—that was a
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common topic among the residents of El Building. As for me, I was
going to go to college and become a teacher.
But after meeting Eugene I began to think of the present more
than of the future. What I wanted now was to enter that house I had
watched for so many years. I wanted to see the other rooms where
the old people had lived, and where the boy spent his time. Most of
all, I wanted to sit at the kitchen table with Eugene like two adults,
like the old man and his wife had done, maybe drink some coffee
and talk about books. I had started reading Gone with the Wind. I was
enthralled by it, with the daring and the passion of the beautiful girl
living in a mansion, and with her devoted parents and the slaves who
did everything for them. I didn’t believe such a world had ever really
existed, and I wanted to ask Eugene some questions since he and his
3. Enamorada  (ay nah moh RAH dah) Spanish for “enamored; lovesick.”
4. señorita  (seh nyoh REE tah) Spanish for “young lady.”
 NOTES

parents, he had told me, had come up from Georgia, the same place
where the novel was set. His father worked for a company that had
transferred him to Paterson. His mother was very unhappy, Eugene
said, in his beautiful voice that rose and fell over words in a strange,
lilting way. The kids at school called him “the hick” and made fun of
the way he talked. I knew I was his only friend so far, and I liked that,
though I felt sad for him sometimes. “Skinny Bones” and the “Hick”
was what they called us at school when we were seen together.
13 The day Mr. DePalma came out into the cold and asked us to line
up in front of him was the day that President Kennedy was shot.
Mr. DePalma, a short, muscular man with slicked-down black hair,
was the science teacher, P.E. coach, and disciplinarian at P.S. 13. He
was the teacher to whose homeroom you got assigned if you were
a troublemaker, and the man called out to break up playground
fights, and to escort violently angry teenagers to the office. And
Mr. DePalma was the man who called your parents in for “a
conference.”
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14 That day, he stood in front of two rows of mostly black and Puerto
Rican kids, brittle from their efforts to “keep moving” on a November
day that was turning bitter cold. Mr. DePalma, to our complete shock,
was crying. Not just silent adult tears, but really sobbing. There were
a few titters from the back of the line where I stood shivering.
15 “Listen,” Mr. DePalma raised his arms over his head as if he were
about to conduct an orchestra. His voice broke, and he covered his
face with his hands. His barrel chest was heaving. Someone giggled
behind me.
16 “Listen,” he repeated, “something awful has happened.” A strange
gurgling came from his throat, and he turned around and spat on the
cement behind him.
17 “Gross,” someone said, and there was a lot of laughter.

American History  41
 18 “The President is dead, you idiots. I should have known that
NOTES wouldn’t mean anything to a bunch of losers like you kids. Go
home.” He was shrieking now. No one moved for a minute or two,
but then a big girl let out a “Yeah!” and ran to get her books piled
up with the others against the brick wall of the school building.
The others followed in a mad scramble to get to their things before
somebody caught on. It was still an hour to the dismissal bell.
19 A little scared, I headed for El Building. There was an eerie feeling
on the streets. I looked into Mario’s drugstore, a favorite hangout for
the high school crowd, but there were only a couple of old Jewish men
at the soda-bar talking with the short order
cook in tones that sounded almost angry, but
they were keeping their voices low. Even the
“You are going out traffic on one of the busiest intersections in
today?” The way she said Paterson—Straight Street and Park Avenue—
seemed to be moving slower. There were no
“today” sounded as if a horns blasting that day. At El Building, the
usual little group of unemployed men were
storm warning had been
not hanging out on the front stoop making
issued. it difficult for women to enter the front door.
No music spilled out from open doors in the
hallway. When I walked into our apartment,
I found my mother sitting in front of the
grainy picture of the television set.
20 She looked up at me with a tear-streaked face and just said: “Dios
mio,”5 turning back to the set as if it were pulling at her eyes. I went
into my room.
21 Though I wanted to feel the right thing about President Kennedy’s
elation (ee LAY shuhn) n. great death, I could not fight the feeling of elation that stirred in my chest.
happiness and excitement Today was the day I was to visit Eugene in his house. He had asked
me to come over after school to study for an American history test
with him. We had also planned to walk to the public library together.
I looked down into his yard. The oak tree was bare of leaves and the

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ground looked gray with ice. The light through the large kitchen
window of his house told me that El Building blocked the sun to such
an extent that they had to turn lights on in the middle of the day. I felt
ashamed about it. But the white kitchen table with the lamp hanging
just above it looked cozy and inviting. I would soon sit there, across
from Eugene, and I would tell him about my perch just above his
house. Maybe I should.
22 In the next thirty minutes I changed clothes, put on a little pink
lipstick, and got my books together. Then I went in to tell my mother
that I was going to a friend’s house to study. I did not expect her
reaction.
23 “You are going out today?” The way she said “today” sounded
as if a storm warning had been issued. It was said in utter disbelief.

5. Dios mío  (DEE ohs MEE oh) Spanish for “My God!”

42  UNIT 1 • AMERICAN VOICES

 Before I could answer, she came toward me and held my elbows as I
clutched my books. NOTES

24 “Hija,6 the President has been killed. We must show respect. He

was a great man. Come to church with me tonight.”
25 She tried to embrace me, but my books were in the way. My first
impulse was to comfort her, she seemed so distraught, but I had to impulse (IHM puls) n. sudden
meet Eugene in fifteen minutes. urge to act or do something
26 “I have a test to study for, Mama. I will be home by eight.”
27 “You are forgetting who you are, Niña7. I have seen you staring
down at that boy’s house. You are heading for humiliation and pain.”
My mother said this in Spanish and in a resigned tone that surprised
me, as if she had no intention of stopping me from “heading for
humiliation and pain.” I started for the door. She sat in front of the
TV holding a white handkerchief to her face.
28 I walked out to the street and around the chainlink fence that
separated El Building from Eugene’s house. The yard was neatly
edged around the little walk that led to the door. It always amazed
me how Paterson, the inner core of the city, had no apparent logic
to its architecture. Small, neat, single residences like this one could
be found right next to huge, dilapidated apartment buildings like
El Building. My guess was that the little houses had been there first,
then the immigrants had come in droves, and the monstrosities
had been raised for them—the Italians, the Irish, the Jews, and now
us, the Puerto Ricans and the blacks. The door was painted a deep
green: verde, the color of hope, I had heard my mother say it: Verde-
Esperanza.8
29 I knocked softly. A few suspenseful moments later the door opened CLOSE READ
just a crack. The red, swollen face of a woman appeared. She had ANNOTATE: In paragraphs
a halo of red hair floating over a delicate ivory face—the face of a 29 and 30, mark details
that describe Eugene’s
doll—with freckles on the nose. Her smudged eye make-up made
mother’s appearance and
her look unreal to me, like a mannequin seen through a warped store
behavior.
window.
30 “What do you want?” Her voice was tiny and sweet-sounding, like QUESTION: Which details
suggest softness or
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a little girl’s, but her tone was not friendly.

sweetness, and which
31 ‘’I’m Eugene’s friend. He asked me over. To study.” I thrust out my
suggest hardness or
books, a silly gesture that embarrassed me almost immediately.
harshness?
32 “You live there?” She pointed up to El Building, which looked
particularly ugly, like a gray prison with its many dirty windows and CONCLUDE: What is the
effect of these contrasting
rusty fire escapes. The woman had stepped halfway out and I could
details?
see that she wore a white nurse’s uniform with St. Joseph’s Hospital
on the name tag.
33 “Yes. I do.”
34 She looked intently at me for a couple of heartbeats, then said as if
to herself, “I don’t know how you people do it.” Then directly to me:
“Listen. Honey. Eugene doesn’t want to study with you. He is a smart

6. Hija  (EE hah) Spanish for “daughter.”

7. Niña  (NEE nyah) Spanish for “child,” used here as an endearment.
8. Verde-Esperanza  (vehr day ehs pay RAHN sah) Spanish for “green-hope.”

American History  43
 boy. Doesn’t need help. You understand me. I am truly sorry if he
NOTES told you you could come over. He cannot study with you. It’s nothing
personal. You understand? We won’t be in this place much longer, no
need for him to get close to people—it’ll just make it harder for him
later. Run back home now.”
35 I couldn’t move. I just stood there in shock at hearing these things
said to me in such a honey-drenched voice. I had never heard an
accent like hers, except for Eugene’s softer version. It was as if she
were singing me a little song.
36 “What’s wrong? Didn’t you hear what I said?” She seemed very
angry, and I finally snapped out of my trance. I turned away from the
green door, and heard her close it gently.
37 Our apartment was empty when I got home. My mother was in
someone else’s kitchen, seeking the solace she needed. Father would
come in from his late shift at midnight. I would hear them talking
softly in the kitchen for hours that night. They would not discuss
their dreams for the future, or life in Puerto Rico, as they often did;
that night they would talk sadly about the young widow and her
two children, as if they were family. For the next few days, we would
observe luto9 in our apartment; that is, we would practice restraint
and silence—no loud music or laughter. Some of the women of El
Building would wear black for weeks.
38 That night, I lay in my bed trying to feel the right thing for our
dead President. But the tears that came up from a deep source
inside me were strictly for me. When my mother came to the door, I
pretended to be sleeping. Sometime during the night, I saw from my
bed the streetlight come on. It had a pink halo around it. I went to
my window and pressed my face to the cool glass. Looking up at the
light I could see the white snow falling like a lace veil over its face.
I did not look down to see it turning gray as it touched the ground
below.  ❧
9. luto  (LOO toh) Spanish for “mourning.”

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44  UNIT 1 • AMERICAN VOICES

 Comprehension Check
Complete the following items after you finish your first read.

1. On what memorable day in history does this story take place?

2. How does the narrator first become aware of Eugene?

3. Why does the narrator like Eugene even before she meets him?

4. According to her mother, how does Elena seem to feel about Eugene?

5. How does Eugene’s mother react to Elena’s visit?

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6.   Notebook  Write a summary of “American History.”

RESEARCH
Research to Clarify  Choose at least one unfamiliar detail from the text. Briefly research
that detail. In what way does the information you learned shed light on an aspect of
the story?

Research to Explore  Choose something from the text that interested you, and formulate
a research question.

American History  45
 MAKING MEANING

Close Read the Text

1. The model, from paragraph 1 of the story, shows two sample
annotations, along with questions and conclusions. Close read
the passage and find another detail to annotate. Then, write a
question and your conclusion.
AMERICAN HISTORY

ANNOTATE: This clause includes strong,

emotionally charged language.
QUESTION: What do these words suggest
about the nature of life in El Building?
ANNOTATE: These two
CONCLUDE: Whatever and currently suggest
words are especially
that the people had many different problems,
colorful.
while the word enduring suggests that they
faced long-term struggles with no easy QUESTION: What
solutions. picture of El Building is
the narrator painting
with these word
At almost any hour of the day, El choices?
Building was like a monstrous CONCLUDE:
jukebox, blasting out salsas from Monstrous
open windows as the residents, suggests El Building
is large, strange,
mostly new immigrants just up
and dangerous. Blasting
from the island, tried to drown suggests loudness
out whatever they were currently and aggression. It is a
enduring with loud music. big, fierce place.

2. For more practice, go back into the selection, and complete the
Tool Kit 
Close-Read Guide and
close-read notes.
Model Annotation 3. Revisit a section of the text you found important during your first
read. Read this section closely, and annotate what you notice.
Ask yourself questions such as “Why did the author make this
choice?” What can you conclude?

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CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
Analyze the Text to support your answers.

Notebook  Respond to these questions.

 STANDARDS
Reading Literature
Analyze how complex characters
develop over the course of a text,
interact with other characters, and
advance the plot or develop the
theme.
1. Compare and Contrast Explain the contrast in Elena’s feelings toward
her own home and Eugene’s house. Cite descriptive details that reflect
these feelings.
2. Analyze In what ways does this story reflect social issues facing America
in the 1960s? Consider descriptions of Elena’s school and neighborhood,
as well as Eugene’s mother’s reaction to Elena.
3. (a) What subject is Elena planning to study with Eugene?
(b) Interpret What other reasons might Ortiz Cofer have for calling this
story “American History”?
4. Essential Question:  What does it mean to be “American”? What
have you learned about American identity from reading this selection?

46  UNIT 1 • AMERICAN VOICES

 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What does it mean to be “American”?

Analyze Craft and Structure

Narrative Structure  Every story is driven by a conflict, or struggle
between opposing forces. Characters in stories may face two different types
of conflict—internal and external.

• In an internal conflict, a character grapples with his or her own beliefs,

values, needs, or desires. For example, a character may know something
is wrong but still be pulled to do it.
• In an external conflict, a character struggles against an outside force.
This force may be another character, nature, or society. For example, a
character trying to survive a hurricane at sea is experiencing an external
conflict.
A character’s efforts to resolve, or fix, a conflict form the basis for the plot of
a story. In “American History,” the main character, Elena, experiences both
internal and external conflicts.

CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE

Practice  to support your answers.

Notebook  Respond to these questions.

1. (a) What is the main conflict in this story? (b) Is that main conflict primarily external
or internal? Explain.
2. Use the chart to identify conflicts Elena faces in addition to the main conflict.
For each conflict you note, identify at least one story detail that supports
your answer.

Elena vs. an Outside Force Elena vs. Herself

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3. (a) In the last scene of the story, why does Elena say that her tears are just for
herself? (b) In what ways does the assassination of the president both add to and
minimize the importance of Elena’s suffering? Explain.

American History  47
 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Concept Vocabulary
anticipated enthralled elation

infatuated devoted impulse

AMERICAN HISTORY
Why These Words?  The six concept vocabulary words from the text all
involve having a fascination with or an attraction to something. For example,
Elena is enthralled by the book Gone With the Wind. She is captivated by the
story, which is set in a romantic and tragic place.

1. How do the vocabulary words help the writer describe characters’

emotions?

2. Find two other words in the selection that describe a strong emotion.

Practice
Notebook  The concept vocabulary words appear in “American
History.”
1. Use each concept vocabulary word in a sentence that demonstrates
its meaning.
2. Rewrite each sentence using a synonym for the concept vocabulary word.
How does the replacement change the meaning of the sentence?

Word Study
Cognates  When two words in different languages share a common origin,
  WORD NETWORK they are called cognates. Often, they are spelled and pronounced similarly
Add interesting words
in the two languages and still share a common meaning. Recognizing
related to American identity
when two words are cognates can help you determine an unfamiliar word’s
from the text to your Word
Network.
meaning. If you know Spanish, for example, you can quickly guess the

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meanings of the English words bicycle and paradise from knowing their
Spanish cognates: bicicleta and paraíso.

1. For each Spanish word in the chart, write its English cognate. Then, write
 STANDARDS the meaning the pair of cognates shares.
Language
• Use various types of phrases and
Spanish word English COGNATE Meaning
clauses to convey specific meanings
and add variety and interest to anticipación
writing or presentations.
• Consult general and specialized
reference materials, both print and
digital, to find the pronunciation of pasión
a word or determine or clarify its
precise meaning, its part of speech,
or its etymology.
• Demonstrate understanding
of figurative language, word 2. Look back at paragraph 11 of “American History.” What English word
relationships, and nuances in word
is a cognate of the Spanish word enamorada? Write the word and its
meanings.
definition. Consult a bilingual dictionary if necessary.

48  UNIT 1 • AMERICAN VOICES

 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What does it mean to be “American”?

Conventions
Types of Phrases A preposition is a word such as of, in, to, for or with
that relates a noun or a pronoun to another word in the sentence. CLARIFICATION
A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition Refer to the Grammar
and ends with a noun or pronoun, called the object of the preposition. Handbook to learn more
about these terms.
When a prepositional phrase modifies a noun or a pronoun, by telling what
kind or which one, it is an adjective phrase. When it modifies a verb, an
adjective, or an adverb, by pointing out where, why, when, in what way,
or to what extent, it is an adverb phrase. In the chart, the prepositional
phrases are italicized, and the words they modify are underlined.

SENTENCE TYPE OF PHRASE HOW PHRASE FUNCTIONS

Let’s take a picture of the Eiffel Tower. adjective phrase tells what kind

The snowball on the table melted. adjective phrase tells which one

I left my wallet in the car. adverb phrase tells where

The other team played with more skill. adverb phrase tells in what way

Read It
1. Mark every prepositional phrase in each of these sentences. Then, indicate
whether each phrase is an adjective phrase or an adverb phrase.
a. Elena’s mother was unhappy in Paterson.
b. When Elena sat on the fire escape, she was above Eugene’s backyard.
c. The boys tossed basketballs through a hoop in the yard.
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2. Reread paragraph 29 of “American History.” Mark one adjective phrase

and one adverb phrase. Then, note which word each phrase modifies.

Write It 
Notebook  Add either an adjective phrase or an adverb phrase to each
sentence. Label each phrase you add.

Example
We drove.
We drove to the suburbs. (adverb phrase)
We drove to the suburbs of Paterson and Clifton. (adjective phrase)

1. Elena observed Eugene.

2. I could see the snow falling like a lace veil.

American History  49
 effective expression

Writing to Sources
A story can be a way of exploring and even of explaining a topic. The
conflicts a writer chooses to address in a work of fiction often reflect issues
people encounter in real life. The resolutions to those conflicts may suggest
authentic solutions.
AMERICAN HISTORY

Assignment
Consider the conflicts Elena faces in “American History” and the choices
she makes as she faces them. Ask yourself whether she could have made
different choices and whether those other options might have had a
better or, perhaps, a worse result. Then, write an alternative ending to
the story. Start your ending after Elena knocks on Eugene’s door. Consider
how you will either resolve or leave open the main conflicts Elena faces in
the story.
• Your new ending should flow logically from the story’s earlier events.
• Your new ending should be consistent with your understanding of the
characters.
• Your new ending should either provide a resolution to the conflict
or demonstrate a realization Elena experiences.

Vocabulary and Conventions Connection  Consider including several

concept vocabulary words in your alternative ending. Also, consider using
prepositional phrases to make your writing more precise.

anticipated enthralled elation

infatuated devoted impulse

Reflect on Your Writing

After you have written your alternative ending, answer these questions.
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1. How did you make your portrayal of the characters consistent with the
earlier part of the story? Explain.

2. Did you include any prepositional phrases in your writing? If so, how did
they help you be more descriptive or precise?

 STANDARDS
Writing 3. Why These Words?  Which words in your writing do you feel are
• Write narratives to develop real especially effective in portraying characters’ thoughts or feelings? List a
or imagined experiences or events few of these words.
using effective technique, well-
chosen details, and well-structured
event sequences. 4. Essential Question:  What does it mean to be “American”? What
• Provide a conclusion that follows
from and reflects on what is
have you learned about American identity from reading this selection?
experienced, observed, or resolved
over the course of the narrative.

50  UNIT 1 • AMERICAN VOICES

 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What does it mean to be “American”?

Speaking and Listening

Assignment
Write and present a monologue from the point of view of a character in
“American History” other than Elena. A monologue is an uninterrupted
speech often used in drama. It is delivered by one character to an
audience of silent listeners and allows the character to present his or her
version of events. For example, your monologue may present Eugene’s
thoughts and feelings after his mother sends Elena away.

1. Choose a Character  Other than Elena, which character in the story

would have something interesting and important to say? When choosing
your character, consider the following elements:
• the character’s knowledge, attitude, and feelings about the story’s events
• the character’s relationship to Elena and connection to the main
events of the story

2. Plan and Write  Brainstorm for ideas, perceptions, experiences, and

thoughts your chosen character would have and might want to explain to
others. Then, write your monologue.
• Adopt the character’s point of view and write using first-person
pronouns—I, me, us, and we.
• Create an authentic voice by working to “hear” the character’s voice
in your head as you write. Include details that show how he or she
sees the setting, events, and other characters.
• Remember that your character’s knowledge is limited. Include only
what he or she actually knows about the events of the story.

3. Prepare and Deliver  Practice your delivery before you present to the class.
• Speak clearly without rushing.
• Employ body language and gestures to add drama or create emphasis.
Try to be true to the type of movements or speech patterns your
character would use.
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• Vary your speech cadence and emphasis to express your character’s ideas.

4. Evaluate  Use the evaluation guide to evaluate your classmates’ monologues.

MONOLOGUE EVALUATION GUIDE   EVIDENCE LOG

Rate each item on a scale of 1 (not demonstrated) to 5 (demonstrated) Before moving on to a
for each speaker. new selection, go to your
Evidence Log and record
The speaker spoke clearly and effectively. what you learned from
“American History.”
The monologue sounded authentic and accurately reflected the story’s
setting and events.

The speaker varied tone and cadence to enhance meaning.

The speaker’s body language helped express ideas.

American History  51